More from COP25
English translation of the preceding report:
We write from Madrid, Spain. COP25 was scheduled for Santiago de Chile but was canceled because of the social protests happening there against the inequalities in Chilean society.
The change in location from Santiago to Madrid meant that Sustaining All Life (SAL) had to make a great effort and change its plans. That completely changed the perspective of the COP25 delegates from Latin America. We thought the COP was going to be in South America. The change to Europe led us to discharge many emotions.
This year there are many People of the Global Majority in the SAL delegation. We are thirty-one delegates and volunteers from eleven countries: Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, England, and the United States. Those of us from Latin America need to talk about the difficulties we face in our lives because of climate change. The world needs to hear Latin American voices, especially Indigenous ones. COP25 must include the perspectives of the most vulnerable groups.
Our SAL team began with an RC workshop, to discharge everything related to organizing our workshops and forums. We talked about the importance of connection and closeness within our group as well as connecting with the participants we would be meeting. We focused on two points: (1) bringing the tools of RC to groups working on climate change and struggling against systemic oppression, and (2) making valuable connections with people.
Our SAL workshops and forums will focus on hearing from Indigenous people about their environmental struggles in Latin America, hearing from young people leading work on the climate emergency, ending racism in the environmental movement, health and climate change, and expressing painful feelings about the climate emergency.
We will also be broadcasting the following events live on the SAL Facebook page:
Forum—Young Activists
Forum—Voices of Latin America
Workshop—Youth Leading in the Climate Emergency
Workshop—Climate Change and Structural Violence
We invite you to read our daily reports on our Facebook page and on Instagram and Twitter.
With much love from the reporting team,
Mexico City, D.F., Mexico
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in the care of the environment
(Present Time 198, January 2020)